


Take it at Our Pace

by blackm00n5



Series: Our life in Letters [3]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Bonus Chris wrote this note, Christopher Diaz Has Two Dads, Christopher Diaz is a National Treasure, Domestic Fluff, Eddie Diaz is a Good Dad, Evan "Buck" Buckley is a good dad, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Notes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:47:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25603798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackm00n5/pseuds/blackm00n5
Summary: “And you know there’s no time restrictions on a relationship, don’t you?”Eddie blinked once, then twice. Then he turned to look at Maddie. The confusion must have been obvious in the way his brows furrowed because she offered a heavy sigh and shook her head.Or: Eddie realizes he doesn't need to follow a plan all the time, and Christopher writes his own note.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: Our life in Letters [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1854250
Comments: 6
Kudos: 243





	Take it at Our Pace

**Author's Note:**

> I don't even know man apparently I keep having ideas for this and this one is super cute? I just really like these idiots being in love and domestic.

Eddie felt the bed dip as Buck crawled in beside him. He didn’t even want to look at the alarm clock on the bedside table, knowing it would say something he wouldn’t be happy about considering he and Buck both had a shift the next day. He grumbled a bit, feeling Buck’s arm wrap around his waist and his lips pressing to the back of his shoulders. But, despite his grumbling, he pressed back against Buck, moving his legs around until he could tangle them with Buck’s. The two of them wrapping around one another easily, as if instinctively searching one another out. 

“He okay?” Eddie mumbled out. He felt more than he heard Buck hum against the back of his neck. 

“Just wanted a drink. Got him some water.” He answered, nuzzling against Eddie’s back. Normally, Buck preferred being the little spoon, but he was happy to wrap himself around Eddie, as well. Either way, it was comforting for the two of them to be pressed so intimately against one another. 

Eddie had almost expected it to lose it’s novelty after a few months of Buck living with him, but every single time was still a rush of adrenaline and adoration simmering through his veins until it spread like static over his skin. 

“You’re such a good dad.” Eddie breathed out, tongue loose from sleep and body slack against Buck’s chest.

He felt Buck tense up behind him, and Eddie went from half asleep to wide awake in a second. Worried he’d pushed too far, realizing far too late that despite how many times he had thought about it, they’d never actually spoken about that. About how Buck was as much of a father to Chris as Eddie himself, was. About how Buck was such a natural at it that it seemed as if he’d been there from the start. Buck was so, so good with Christopher. Talking to him easily, knowing he was intelligent and complex like any adult but knowing when and how to keep their interactions at Christopher’s level. Understanding what Christopher needed without having to be told, knowing to give him space to learn and grow and be independent but being close enough to help if Christopher ever needed or wanted it. As far as Eddie was concerned, Buck was already Christopher’s dad. 

But they had never actually discussed it. Eddie had never actually said this to him and he was realizing it all at once. 

“You really think so?” Buck asked, before Eddie could panic and retract the statement, before he could start rambling out half sentences that didn’t make any sense and would likely just make the whole situation worse. 

Eddie swallowed thickly, then shifted. Moving around until he was on his opposite side and facing Buck. He reached a hand up, trailing up the side of Buck’s neck, tracing his jaw and finally pressing sweetly over the birthmark on his brow. 

“Yeah.” He breathed out. Which didn’t feel quite sufficient enough to explain the mess of feelings battling it out inside of him, but it got the main point across, at the very least. “Yeah, Buck. You make a good father.” 

Buck was quiet for a long moment, then he reached his own hand up to grab Eddie’s hand. He pulled it down from where Eddie was still sweetly tracing over his birthmark, pressing the back of Eddie’s palm to his lips to kiss it. 

“I want to be.” He said, lips just a hair’s breadth away from the back of Eddie’s palm. “I want to be a part of this. I want to help you raise Christopher. I..” Buck paused, swallowing thickly. “I want to be a dad and I want to be good at it.” 

Eddie couldn’t help the smile he offered, he couldn’t stop it if he tried. And he could feel the backs of his eyes starting to sting, too tired to hold back how overwhelmed he was by it. Buck was so inherently good. Eddie knew Buck had been teasing about using his son as an excuse, but it was so much different trying to date when you had a kid. So few people were willing to look after a child that wasn’t their own, but Buck had done so well before they were even together. Had immediately gone all in on trying to help Eddie take care of Christopher and it was a lot to process when it was so late it was early and they were tangled up in bed together. 

“I hate to break it to you,” Eddie began, twisting his hand until he could lovingly cup Buck’s face again. “But you already are.” 

Instead of answering, Buck shifted closer to kiss him. They lingered there, kissing soft and sweet and slow for a long few moments. Eddie’s hand slipped back, going from Buck’s cheek to wrap around the back of his neck and hold him close. Buck’s hand landed on his hip, dragging him as close and possible, pressed flush against one another until Eddie could feel Buck’s heartbeat against his own chest. 

“We have work tomorrow.” Eddie murmured against Buck’s lips, when he felt Buck starting to nip and bite into the kiss. He felt Buck sigh.

“I know.” He answered, lingering in one more long kiss before pulling back again. Buck stared at him for a moment, then offered a sweet little smile that was just this side of shy.

“...Thank you.” He added, and it was enough for Eddie to lean in for one last kiss.

(And if one last kiss led to three or four more ‘one last kisses’, then no one but them needed to know.)

* * *

Watching Maddie waddle over to her seat with her very pregnant belly made it very difficult for Eddie to stay seated and not offer to help. But, he knew from experience that trying to coddle a pregnant woman was a surefire way to get smacked, and she had already hit Buck a few times for trying to all but carry her around. And even if he hadn’t known from experience, Maddie was a tough woman. She could handle the swollen ankles and achey back just fine without a man there to help her. So, Eddie just stayed in his seat and sipped at his beer to try and keep from offering his unwanted help. 

Madde settled beside him on her couch, both of them watching Buck as he and Christopher worked on building whatever it was they were building with legos at the kitchen table. She smiled, and he knew his own smile must have been unbearably fond as he watched the two. 

“He’s really good with Christopher.” Maddie mused, bringing her glass of iced tea to her lips. There was a very pointed tone to her voice, knowing in a way that made the hairs on the back of Eddie’s neck stand up. He swallowed down another sip of his beer, those butterflies exploding in his stomach as he watched Buck and Christopher cheer over a precarious tower not falling over.

“Yeah, he is.” He ended up answering, because what else could he say? It was true, Buck was amazing with Christopher, and he’d been thinking about it nonstop for the past week since he’d blurted out how good of a father Buck was. 

“He’s always wanted to be a dad, you know.” Maddie continued, shifting from watching her brother to watching Eddie. Eyes sharp and intense. Eddie kept his eyes on Buck. “Wants to be a better dad than our’s was, I think.” 

“He’s doing a great job.” Eddie said, immediate. His response on the tip of his tongue before Maddie had even finished because Eddie believed it. It was a fundamental truth, Buck was an amazing father and it blew Eddie away to realize he was being that amazing father for Christopher. “I really can’t imagine me and Chris’ lives without him, anymore. I, uh…” Eddie dropped his gaze finally, the back of his neck going pink. “I haven’t been able to for a long time.”

“Have you told him that?” She asked, that knowing tone still in her voice. She reminded him, very suddenly, of his own older sister. When he’d been a teenager too scared to ask a pretty girl out. 

“I’ve told him he’s a great dad to Christopher.” He answered after a long moment. Then he huffed a laugh and shook his head, taking another sip from his beer. “Which is probably not great. Asking a boyfriend of less than a year to look at my kid like his own.” 

“You didn’t ask him to, he did it because he wanted to.” Maddie said, cutting him off before he could continue. “And you know there’s no time restrictions on a relationship, don’t you?” 

Eddie blinked once, then twice. Then he turned to look at Maddie. The confusion must have been obvious in the way his brows furrowed because she offered a heavy sigh and shook her head. Maddie set her drink down, rearranging so she was more or less facing Eddie.

“Eddie,” She began, holding her hand out palm up in an obvious invitation. Or, perhaps an obvious demand. Eddie switched his beer from one hand to the other, and easily gave up the hand closest to Maddie so she could hold it. 

“There’s no set checklist of how a relationship is supposed to. There’s no plan you need to follow. It isn’t a case of needing to know each other for this long before a first date, this many dates before you’re a couple. You don’t need to be married to have a child, you don’t need to be together for x amount of time before you move in together. You don’t need to follow a plan. You just need to move at the pace that’s comfortable for you both.” She said, smiling as she pointedly looked back over at Buck and Chris.

They were still working on building something, with Buck leaned over Christopher to help guide him, helping brace their structure as Christopher tried to add something onto it. Both of them smiling, the fondness in Buck’s smile as he spoke to Christopher so potent that Eddie could feel it from his spot on the couch. It made his throat feel tight, and he realized a moment too late that he was squeezing Maddie’s hand. 

“And the pace that worked for you two was you co-parenting an awesome kid before you were even dating.” Maddie continued, a teasing lilt to her voice despite the sincerity underlining it. 

Eddie just stared at her for a long moment, knowing he probably looked about as dumb as he felt. Because he had never...really thought about it like that, before. He’d always thought of relationships as a step by step process with an established road that was meant to be taken. The same path he had tried to take with Shannon. Meet, get to know each other. Start dating, do that for enough time to fall in love. Get married, start a family. It was a system that people were meant to follow.

Except...except it really wasn’t. Shannon had gotten pregnant before they got engaged, even if Eddie already had the ring and was waiting for the right time. Chim and Maddie were preparing for their baby without any apparent plan for marriage. And Buck was Christopher’s second father and had been since long before they got together.. People did things in the way that worked for them, and if that idyllic southern, Catholic viewpoint Eddie had grown up with didn’t suit them then they ignored it. 

It was kind of a lot for Eddie to process. 

He ended up nodding dumbly, turning his attention back to Buck, and something heavy and right settled in the pit of his stomach. 

* * *

Christopher had been delighted when Eddie had told him about his plan about two weeks later. Eddie had spent a lot of time thinking about it, debating it. And ultimately, this was their family, so he felt it only right that Christopher be involved as well. Christopher seemed to wholeheartedly agree, and he had taken the whole thing very seriously. They had sat down and figured out a plan together, one day while Buck was out to help Maddie with some chores. An entire notebook dedicated to the whole plan that Christopher had insisted upon, though it had ultimately only taken up about two pages worth of paper. 

It almost felt like it had been Christopher’s idea from the start.

Regardless, Eddie knew what he was going to do. He knew exactly what he wanted, and he knew how he wanted to do it. He had always sort of found comfort in plans, after all. Knowing exactly what was supposed to happen, how things were supposed to go. 

Buck didn’t follow the plan, most of the time, but maybe that was one of the things Eddie loved so much about him. 

* * *

The twenty-four hour shift had ended mid afternoon. Christopher was still in school when they got back home, and they had enough time for a shower before picking him back up, if they kept their hands to themselves. Not an easy thing to do, especially not when they knew the house was empty. No need to be quiet, no risking Christopher hearing them or seeing them. 

But, they were on a time limit, and as frustrating as that was, they both knew they needed to keep to it. 

It didn’t stop Buck from pouting the entire car ride to the school, though. 

He brightened up as soon as Christopher was within eyesight, of course, and it made Eddie’s chest tighten up. Made him feel more ready than he’d ever felt for just about anything. The drive home was spent listening to Christopher tell them about his day, about the games he played at recess and the things he’d learned in science and history. Eddie was nearly vibrating under his skin by the time they got back home, and he didn’t even have the door shut behind them before he touched Christopher’s shoulder.

“Hey buddy,” He said, during one of the small breaks in conversation. Squeezing his voice in between the animated discussion Buck and Chris were having. “Why don’t you go get the gift you made for Buck?” He said.

Christopher brightened up, eyes wide and eager and a smile tugging across his face so quickly Eddie was worried it might actually hurt. Buck brightened up too, though his excitement was dulled by vague confusion. 

“Gift for me?” He asked, looking between the Diaz boys. 

“Yeah! Let me go get it!” Christopher announced, taking off as fast as he could go to his bedroom. Eddie jerked forward, trying to steady him but Christopher shrugged him off in his haste to go get his gift. 

“What are you two planning?” Buck asked as the click of Christopher’s crutches faded into the carpet of his bedroom. Eddie just grinned at him and shook his head. 

It was clear Eddie had no intention of spoiling the surprise, so Buck sighed dramatically and leaned against the table. He waited patiently for Christopher to return, or as patiently as he could be. Curiosity swirling around in his head, his foot bouncing absently as he waited. 

Christopher was beaming when he returned, a piece of paper in his hand. Buck smiled brightly at him, kneeling down to be at his level as Christopher approached him. Christopher nearly slammed into Buck in his haste to get closer, shoving the piece of paper into Buck’s hand. Buck chuckled, reaching a hand out to help brace Christopher. Once he was certain Chris wasn’t about to fall right over in his excitement, he looked down at the paper.

It was a piece of construction paper, carefully folded down the middle to make a card.There was a crayon drawing on the front, the three of them standing together with a large heart around them all. Buck all but melted, tracing his fingers over the drawing softly.

“Christopher,” He began, looking from the drawing to Christopher. Chris shook his head.

“Open it, Buck!” He insisted. Buck chuckled, holding a hand up in surrender. 

Whatever it was Buck had been expecting, it hadn’t been what he got. He opened that card, looking down at the neat printed letters inside, Written in blue crayon, with more hearts surrounding the words, and Buck struggled to take a breath.

_ Buck, will you be my dad?  _

Buck swallowed thickly around the lump in his throat, looking back up at Christopher. At this amazing, kind, smart kid that Buck was lucky enough to know. He thought back to that night a few weeks back, when Eddie told him he was a good dad, and he could feel the tears stinging the backs of his eyes. He wanted this, and he knew Eddie wanted it. And now he had blatant, unquestionable proof that Christopher wanted it, too. 

“Of course I will, Christopher.” He answered, voice cracking as he reached to sweetly touch the side of Christopher’s face. 

Christopher beamed at Buck, smile bright and innocent and enough to make Buck feel like he’d been hit in the stomach. He leaned close, wrapping his arms around Christopher to pull him in, cradling him against his chest. Buck pressed a kiss to the side of his head, smiling as Christopher eagerly returned the hug, basking in the feeling for a long moment. 

Buck lingered there for another handful of seconds, squeezing Chris tight to him before pressing one more kiss to his head. He stood, looking down at the card again as he turned to face Eddie.

“And you knew about this?” He asked. He meant to say more, but the words died on his tongue.

When he turned around, Eddie was knelt down on the floor, holding a simple box with a simple silver band in his hand. 

“Are you sure?” Buck blurted out as Eddie was opening his mouth to speak, and just like that he uprooted all of Eddie’s plans yet again.

Because Eddie had planned this. Had written and rewritten an entire little speech he had meant to say. He had known exactly what he planned on telling Buck, the things that were difficult for him to say but that he wanted to be heard. Suddenly, he didn’t remember anything he had planned out, didn’t remember anything he had wanted to say. All he could think about was how in love with this man he was, and how badly he wanted him to stay. 

Eddie swallowed thickly, then nodded once. 

“It doesn’t need to be soon.” He said, voice hoarse and strained as if he hadn’t spoken in years. “It doesn’t have to be for another twenty years. But you…” Eddie closed his eyes, taking a slow breath to try to gather his thoughts. 

“This is our family, Buck. You and me and Christopher. I want this to be our family and I want you to be a part of it forever. I love you. And I love what we are. And if you want this to be it then so do I. I’m sure.” He said.

Buck stared at Eddie, trembling in his spot as he struggled to take a breath. Eddie was kneeling down in front of him, offering a ring and asking him to marry him. It was a lot, it was so much to process and even still, Buck felt everything in him settle. Like he’d finally made it to where he was supposed to be. He swallowed thickly, then lowered himself down to kneel in front of Eddie. He tried to be graceful, but he ended up more or less dropping down and he reached to grab Eddie’s face, dragging him close to kiss him. It was sloppy, uncoordinated due to the way he was smiling to wide it hurt, but it was amazing nonetheless. 

He felt Eddie’s free hand cup the side of his neck, holding him there, and he had every intention of deepening the kiss when Christopher wormed his way between them. 

“You need to say yes, Buck!” He insisted, sounded exasperated despite the smile clear in his voice, and Buck laughed as he pulled back to look at him.

Eddie grinned at him, eyes glassy and wet, and he held the ring up again as his arm circled around Christopher to hold him close. 

“What do you say, Evan Buckley?” He said, sounding wrecked in the best way possible. “Marry me?” 

Buck laughed, bright and happy and on the verge of hysterical, and he nodded as he wrapped his two favorite people up in his arms. 

“Yeah.” He choked out. “Yes, Eddie Diaz, I’ll marry you.” 


End file.
